Post by coyotecrazie5 on Jan 30, 2016 13:45:18 GMT -6
This is a new article by Hoeck about the 3 DI transfers sitting out this year. All three seem to be good kids and great players. So excited to watch them in the new arena next year!
(Hopefully it is ok to post the entire text here, if not I will remove it. Link here)
BY JEREMY HOECK jeremy.hoeck@yankton.net | Updated 14 hours ago
VERMILLION – It’s never that long after home games for the University of South Dakota men’s basketball team that Matt Mooney returns to the DakotaDome court.
He’s not looking for extra shots or additional work, necessarily. It’s not that he is frustrated with his performance minutes earlier.
No, when you’re redshirting, you look for those moments as an outlet for your competitive juices.
“I’m improving as a player; spending a lot of extra time in the gym,” Mooney said after a practice this week. “I’m appreciating the year right now.”
The thing is, Mooney – a transfer from Air Force – isn’t alone in his journey this season for the Coyotes.
South Dakota signed three Division I transfers who are all sitting out this season with the idea that they’ll make an immediate impact in 2016-17: Mooney (a sophomore guard), Trey Dickerson (sophomore guard from Iowa) and Carlton Hurst (junior guard from Colorado State).
Having two other people in your exact same situation does ease some of the frustration of not being able to play, as Mooney pointed out.
Certainly a lot of patience is necessary to make it through a full season with no games. Yes, you practice with the team, but you don’t travel with the team for road games. So practices become your competitive outlet.
In the case of the USD trio, they’ve at least got each other to shoot baskets with.
“Sometimes you can think to yourself, ‘Man, this sucks,’ but now you can say it to them because they’re probably thinking the same thing,” Mooney said.
Bringing in D-I transfers wasn’t exactly USD’s plan from the start after last season, according to head coach Craig Smith, but it just so happened that previous connections helped with two of the players – Dickerson and Hurst.
There’s a fine line you have to walk, the second-year coach said, in that you obviously want to win now, but you’ve also got to set the program up for success in the long-term.
“It just seemed to make sense,” Smith said. “They’re all very good people. They’re all good students, and really fit the USD mantra.
“And they’re also really talented players,” he added, smiling.
They all also got plenty of experience at their respective D-I schools last season.
Hurst, from Denver, has the most experience of the trio: He played in 61 of 66 games over two seasons at Colorado State, of the Mountain West Conference. He averaged 1.9 points and 1.5 rebounds last season. Hurst had been previously recruited by Smith, when he was an assistant at Colorado State.
Dickerson, from Queens, New York, played in 15 games for Iowa of the Big Ten Conference last season, and averaged 2.7 points in 10 minutes per game. He spent the 2013-14 season at Williston (North Dakota) State College, where he played for current USD assistant coach Eric Peterson.
Mooney, from Chicago, played in 29 games and as a freshman last season for Air Force, a member of the Mountain West Conference.
All three found their different ways to Vermillion, all knowing that they would have to sit out a season at a brand new school.
“It’s been pretty difficult playing for two years and then sitting out,” Hurst said. “But there are definitely benefits to it.”
Among those?
You get to work on your game, you get stronger and faster, and you get to see how the new system operates, Hurst said.
And in their case, they have people who can relate to their plight.
“We all just push each other every day and we all know what to expect,” Dickerson said. “Plus, we all want to win.”
Expectations, though, can be a tricky thing when you’re transferring schools. With the understanding that you’ll have to sit out a season, there’s certainly a level of faith and trust involved in those decisions.
“That’s the reason I came here, I believed in what coach Smith was doing with the program,” Hurst said. “I wanted to play for him.”
Selling the vision of the program was no different for the three D-I transfers than it would have been for a high school athlete, but there’s certainly a different level of experience you’re dealing with in those conversations.
“It’s got to be a fit and there’s got to be a lot of faith there,” Smith said.
Mooney, unlike Dickerson and Hurst, had no previous connections to any of the USD coaches, but nonetheless saw the same visions for the future.
“A lot of people, when I committed here, they probably thought, ‘Oh, they’re not any good’ or ‘They’re out in the middle of nowhere,’” Mooney said.
“Myself, I saw a new facility, young freshmen, and a good new staff that we could build around and build something special,” he added.
All three players will become eligible next season, which will be USD’s first in its new 6,000-seat arena connected to the south of the DakotaDome. While the appeal of a brand new arena certainly played a role in their decision, all three have said it wasn’t the only factor.
“I believed in what the coaches told me about this place, and I thought we could do something special in the long run,” Dickerson said. “Everything takes time.”
Even when that wait can be frustrating.
It’s the long-term picture that all three players said they had in mind when they transferred to USD; the idea that they could suddenly jump into the rotation next season – as all three unknown quantities, from outsiders – and help the Coyotes.
“I don’t think anyone else really does (knows what to expect), but we know what we want to accomplish,” Mooney said. “Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve always wanted to play in the tourney.
“It starts with winning a conference championship.”
Reaching that pinnacle means you’ve got to get in those extra shots after games.
“We want to build a better fan base here, but to do that, you’ve got to win,” Mooney said. “To win, you’ve got to work harder than your opponents.”
Although it’s far too early to envision where and how the three transfers will be used in next season’s rotation, Smith said there’s a good possibility all three could play together. Dickerson, he said, is more of a point guard, but can play off the ball, while Mooney and Hurst could play any positions between 2-3-4.
Before it reaches that point, though, all three are doing what they can to be ready for next season.
“We just want to incorporate our experience into coach Smith’s system and have as much success as possible,” Hurst said.
“That’s everybody’s goal, to win the Summit League and make it as far as we can after that.”
(Hopefully it is ok to post the entire text here, if not I will remove it. Link here)
BY JEREMY HOECK jeremy.hoeck@yankton.net | Updated 14 hours ago
VERMILLION – It’s never that long after home games for the University of South Dakota men’s basketball team that Matt Mooney returns to the DakotaDome court.
He’s not looking for extra shots or additional work, necessarily. It’s not that he is frustrated with his performance minutes earlier.
No, when you’re redshirting, you look for those moments as an outlet for your competitive juices.
“I’m improving as a player; spending a lot of extra time in the gym,” Mooney said after a practice this week. “I’m appreciating the year right now.”
The thing is, Mooney – a transfer from Air Force – isn’t alone in his journey this season for the Coyotes.
South Dakota signed three Division I transfers who are all sitting out this season with the idea that they’ll make an immediate impact in 2016-17: Mooney (a sophomore guard), Trey Dickerson (sophomore guard from Iowa) and Carlton Hurst (junior guard from Colorado State).
Having two other people in your exact same situation does ease some of the frustration of not being able to play, as Mooney pointed out.
Certainly a lot of patience is necessary to make it through a full season with no games. Yes, you practice with the team, but you don’t travel with the team for road games. So practices become your competitive outlet.
In the case of the USD trio, they’ve at least got each other to shoot baskets with.
“Sometimes you can think to yourself, ‘Man, this sucks,’ but now you can say it to them because they’re probably thinking the same thing,” Mooney said.
Bringing in D-I transfers wasn’t exactly USD’s plan from the start after last season, according to head coach Craig Smith, but it just so happened that previous connections helped with two of the players – Dickerson and Hurst.
There’s a fine line you have to walk, the second-year coach said, in that you obviously want to win now, but you’ve also got to set the program up for success in the long-term.
“It just seemed to make sense,” Smith said. “They’re all very good people. They’re all good students, and really fit the USD mantra.
“And they’re also really talented players,” he added, smiling.
They all also got plenty of experience at their respective D-I schools last season.
Hurst, from Denver, has the most experience of the trio: He played in 61 of 66 games over two seasons at Colorado State, of the Mountain West Conference. He averaged 1.9 points and 1.5 rebounds last season. Hurst had been previously recruited by Smith, when he was an assistant at Colorado State.
Dickerson, from Queens, New York, played in 15 games for Iowa of the Big Ten Conference last season, and averaged 2.7 points in 10 minutes per game. He spent the 2013-14 season at Williston (North Dakota) State College, where he played for current USD assistant coach Eric Peterson.
Mooney, from Chicago, played in 29 games and as a freshman last season for Air Force, a member of the Mountain West Conference.
All three found their different ways to Vermillion, all knowing that they would have to sit out a season at a brand new school.
“It’s been pretty difficult playing for two years and then sitting out,” Hurst said. “But there are definitely benefits to it.”
Among those?
You get to work on your game, you get stronger and faster, and you get to see how the new system operates, Hurst said.
And in their case, they have people who can relate to their plight.
“We all just push each other every day and we all know what to expect,” Dickerson said. “Plus, we all want to win.”
Expectations, though, can be a tricky thing when you’re transferring schools. With the understanding that you’ll have to sit out a season, there’s certainly a level of faith and trust involved in those decisions.
“That’s the reason I came here, I believed in what coach Smith was doing with the program,” Hurst said. “I wanted to play for him.”
Selling the vision of the program was no different for the three D-I transfers than it would have been for a high school athlete, but there’s certainly a different level of experience you’re dealing with in those conversations.
“It’s got to be a fit and there’s got to be a lot of faith there,” Smith said.
Mooney, unlike Dickerson and Hurst, had no previous connections to any of the USD coaches, but nonetheless saw the same visions for the future.
“A lot of people, when I committed here, they probably thought, ‘Oh, they’re not any good’ or ‘They’re out in the middle of nowhere,’” Mooney said.
“Myself, I saw a new facility, young freshmen, and a good new staff that we could build around and build something special,” he added.
All three players will become eligible next season, which will be USD’s first in its new 6,000-seat arena connected to the south of the DakotaDome. While the appeal of a brand new arena certainly played a role in their decision, all three have said it wasn’t the only factor.
“I believed in what the coaches told me about this place, and I thought we could do something special in the long run,” Dickerson said. “Everything takes time.”
Even when that wait can be frustrating.
It’s the long-term picture that all three players said they had in mind when they transferred to USD; the idea that they could suddenly jump into the rotation next season – as all three unknown quantities, from outsiders – and help the Coyotes.
“I don’t think anyone else really does (knows what to expect), but we know what we want to accomplish,” Mooney said. “Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve always wanted to play in the tourney.
“It starts with winning a conference championship.”
Reaching that pinnacle means you’ve got to get in those extra shots after games.
“We want to build a better fan base here, but to do that, you’ve got to win,” Mooney said. “To win, you’ve got to work harder than your opponents.”
Although it’s far too early to envision where and how the three transfers will be used in next season’s rotation, Smith said there’s a good possibility all three could play together. Dickerson, he said, is more of a point guard, but can play off the ball, while Mooney and Hurst could play any positions between 2-3-4.
Before it reaches that point, though, all three are doing what they can to be ready for next season.
“We just want to incorporate our experience into coach Smith’s system and have as much success as possible,” Hurst said.
“That’s everybody’s goal, to win the Summit League and make it as far as we can after that.”